Electron-spin polarization in a non-magnetic heterostructure

The spin dependent electron transmission through a non-magnetic III-V semiconductor symmetric well is studied theoretically so as to investigate the output transmission current polarization at zero magnetic field. Transparency of electron transmission is calculated as a function of electron energy as well as the well width, within the one electron band approximation along with the spin-orbit interaction. Enhanced spin-polarized resonant tunneling in the heterostructure due to Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit coupling induced splitting of the resonant level is observed. We predict that a spin-polarized current spontaneously emerges in this heterostructure. This effect could be employed in the fabrication of spin filters, spin injectors and detectors based on non-magnetic semiconductors.     

Spin-polarized current produced by a double barrier resonant tunneling diode

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) made with a semimagnetic semiconductor is studied theoretically. The calculated spin-polarized current and polarization degree are in agreement with recent experimental results. It is predicted that the polarization degree can be modulated continuously from +1 to −1 by changing the external voltage such that the quasi-confined spin-up and spin-down energy levels shift downwards from the Fermi level to the bottom of the conduction band. The RTD with low potential barrier or the tunneling through the second quasi-confined state produces larger spin-polarized current. Furthermore a higher magnetic field enhances the polarization degree of the tunneling current.     

Vertex correction of the anisotropic magnetic impurities to the spin polarization of 2D electron gas

In terms of Kubo's formula and Green's function method, for the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), we study the spin polarization due to the effect from magnetic impurities with anisotropic spin dependent delta type coupling to electrons when an external dc electric field in plane is applied. The vertex correction of impurities in ladder approximation is carried out in the limit of EF?1/τ, Δ. We find that the strength of spin polarization can be significantly modified by vertex correction and the spin polarization is relevant to the anisotropy coefficient γ, but the direction of net spin polarization cannot be changed.     

自旋轨道耦合和磁场对准一维铁磁/半导体/铁磁系统中电子输运性质的影响

利用传递矩阵方法，我们计算了自旋轨道耦合和磁场对准一维铁磁/半导体/铁磁系统中电子输运性质的影响。计算结果发现，透射系数的振幅随磁场增加而增大。在反铁磁排列时，即使在磁场作用下，上、下自旋电子具有相同的透射系数。与不加磁场时的情况相反，在一定的磁场和耦合强度时，铁磁排列中，上自旋电子的透射系数大于下自旋电子的，而且出现了自旋反转。     

Spin Polarization and Andreev Conductance through a Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Quantum Wire with Spin--Orbit Interaction

Spin-dependent Andreev reflection and spin polarization through a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum wire coupled to normal metallic and superconductor electrodes are investigated using scattering theory. When the spin-orbit coupling is considered, more Andreev conductance steps appear at the same Fermi energy. Magnetic semiconductor quantum wire separates the spin-up and spin-down electrons. The Fermi energy, at which different- spin-state electrons begin to separate, becomes lower due to the effect of the spin-orbit interaction. The spin filter effect can be measured more easily by investigating the Andreev conductance than by investigating the normal conductance.     

Spin-polarized transport in one-dimensional waveguide structures with spatially-periodic electronic and magnetic fields

We investigate theoretically the spin-polarized transport in one-dimensional waveguide structure with spatially-periodic electronic and magnetic fields. The interplay of the spin-orbit interaction and in-plane magnetic field significantly modifies the spin-dependent transmission and the spin polarization. The in-plane magnetic fields increase the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling effect for the electric fields along y axis and decrease this effect for reversing the electric fields, even counteract the Rashba spin-orbit coupling effect. It is very interesting to find that we may deduce the strength of the Rashba effect through this phenomenon.     

Spin-dependent resonant tunneling in a periodic non-magnetic heterostructure with spin-orbit effects

We theoretically investigate the electron transport in a periodic non-magnetic heterostructure with both Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit effects. We show that the transport properties obviously depend on the number of periods and the large spin polarization can be achieved in such a structure. We also show that for m>1, the resonance splitting occurs in the transmission curves of both spin-up and spin-down electrons when the transmission curves are plotted as a function of the electron energy or the well width.     

Persistent current in a magnetized Rashba ring

We theoretically study the persistent currents flowing in a Rashba quantum ring subjected to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. By introducing uniform or nonuniform magnetization into the ring, we find that a nonzero persistent charge current circulates in the ring, which stems from the original equilibrium spin current due to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Because of broken time reversal symmetry, the two oppositely flowing spin-up and spin-down charge currents of the equilibrium spin current are no longer equal, and so a net persistent charge current can flow in the system. It is also found that the persistent current can be modulated by the Fermi energy, the Rashba spin-orbit interaction strength and the magnetization in the ring. Moreover, the magnetization perpendicular to the ring plane can optimize the current. The persistent current flowing in the ring is a manifestation of the nonzero equilibrium spin current existing in the ring.     

Zero-field spin splitting in a two-dimensional electron gas with the spin-orbit interaction revisited

We consider a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. We derive analytical expressions of the density of states (DOS) of a 2DEG with the Rashba SOI in the presence of a magnetic field by using the Green's function technique. The DOS allows us to obtain the analytical expressions of the magnetoconductivities for spin-up and spin-down electrons. The conductivities for spin-up and spin-down electrons oscillate with different frequencies and give rise to the beating patterns in the amplitude of the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations. We find a simple equation which determines the zero-field spin splitting energy if the magnetic field corresponding to any beat node is known from the experiment. Our analytical results reproduce well the experimentally observed non-periodic beating patterns, number of oscillations between two successive nodes and the measured zero-field spin splitting energy.     

The effects of Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit interactions on the electron tunneling in a non-magnetic heterostructure

We theoretically investigate the electron transport properties in a non-magnetic heterostructure with both Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit interactions. The detailed-numerical results show that (1) the large spin polarization can be achieved due to Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit couplings induced splitting of the resonant level, although the magnetic field is zero in such a structure, (2) the Rashba spin-orbit coupling plays a greater role on the spin polarization than the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction does, and (3) the transmission probability and the spin polarization both periodically change with the increase of the well width.     

Angular dependence of shot noise in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit coupling in semiconductor spintronics junctions

We investigate spin-dependent current and shot noise, taking into account the Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSOC) effect in double diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) barrier resonant tunneling diodes. The calculation is based on an effective mass approach. The magnetization of DMS is calculated by the mean-field approximation in low magnetic field. The spin-splitting of DMS depends on the sp–d exchange interaction. We also examine the dependence of transport properties of CdTe/CdMnTe heterostructures on applied voltage and relative angle between the magnetization of two DMS layers. It is found that the RSOC has great different influence on the transport properties of tunneling electrons with spin-up and spin-down, which have different contributions to the current and the shot noise. Also, we can see that the RSOC enhances the spin polarization of the system, which makes the nanostructure a good candidate for new spin filter devices. Thus, these numerical results may shed light on the next applications of quantum multilayer systems and make them a good choice for future spintronics devices.     

Fano--Kondo Effect in a Triple Quantum Dots Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function and equation-of-motion technique, we have qualitatively studied the spin-dependent transport of a triple-QD system in the Kondo regime. It is shown that the Kondo resonance and Fang interference coexist, and in this system the Fang Kondo effect shows dip behaviours richer than that in the T-shaped QDs. The interdot coupling, the energy level of the side coupled QDs and the spin polarization strength greatly influence the DOS of the central quantum dot QDo. Either the increase of the coupling strength between the two QDs or that of the energy levels of the side coupled QDs enhances the Kondo resonance. Especially, the Kondo resonance is strengthened greatly when the side dot energy is fixed at the Fermi energy. Meanwhile, the Kondo resonance splits for the spin-up and spin-down configurations due to the polarization： the down-spin resonance is enhanced, and the up-spin resonance is suppressed.     

对称双势垒量子阱中自旋极化输运的时间特性

电子的隧穿时间是描述量子器件动态工作范围的重要指标. 本文考虑k³ Dresselhaus 自旋轨道耦合效应对系统哈密顿量的修正, 结合转移矩阵方法和龙格-库塔法来解含时薛定谔方程, 进而讨论了电子在非磁半导体对称双势垒结构中的透射系数及隧穿寿命等问题. 研究结果发现:由于k³ Dresselhaus 自旋轨道耦合效应使自旋简并消除, 并在时间域内得到了表达, 导致自旋向上和自旋向下电子的透射峰发生了自旋劈裂; 不同自旋取向的电子构建时间和隧穿寿命不同, 这是导致自旋极化的原因之一; 电子的自旋极化在时间上趋于稳定. 关键词： 自旋极化输运 透射系数 隧穿寿命 自旋极化率     

Efficient spin filtering in a disordered semiconductor superlattice in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The influence of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling on spin polarization by tunneling through a disordered semiconductor superlattice was investigated. The Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling causes the spin polarization of the electron due to transmission possibilities difference between spin up and spin down electrons. The electron tunneling through a zinc-blende semiconductor superlattice with InAs and GaAs layers and two variable distance In_xGa_(1−x)As impurity layers was studied. One hundred percent spin polarization was obtained by optimizing the distance between two impurity layers and impurity percent in disordered layers in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. In addition, the electron transmission probability through the mentioned superlattice is too much near to one and an efficient spin filtering was recommended.     

Spin-tunneling time in a hybrid semimagnetic/semiconductor heterostructure with a single paramagnetic layer

We investigate spin-dependent tunneling times in a hybrid semimagnetic/semiconductor heterostructure with a single paramagnetic layer under the influence of both electric and magnetic fields. We find that the tunneling times for electrons strongly depend on the incident energy, the magnitude of the external fields, and on their spin orientation. The results indicate that the tunneling time for spin-up electrons can be longer than that for spin-down ones by up to several orders of magnitude. This implies that tunneling for spin-up and spin-down electrons are separated in time within the same heterostructure.     

Effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the spin-polarized transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor double tunnel junctions

Considering the Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the semiconductor, we study theoretically the spin-polarized transport in a two-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor double tunnel junctions by a quantum-mechanical approach. It is found that the transmission coefficient shows typical resonant transmission properties and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling has great different influences on the transmission coefficients of electrons with spin-up and down and tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR). More importantly, the TMR is significantly enhanced by increasing the spin-orbit coupling, which is very useful for the designing of magnetic digital and memory sensor.     

Magnetotransport properties of a magnetically modulated two-dimensional electron gas with the spin-orbit interaction

We study the electrical transport properties of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with the Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the presence of a constant perpendicular magnetic field (B(0)( ?z) which is weakly modulated by B1 = B1 cos(qx) ?z, where B(1) ? B(0) and q = 2π/a with a the modulation period. We obtain the analytical expressions of the diffusive conductivities for spin-up and spin-down electrons. The conductivities for spin-up and spin-down electrons oscillate with different frequencies and produce beating patterns in the amplitude of the Weiss and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. We show that the Rashba strength can be determined by analyzing the beating pattern in the Weiss oscillation. We find a simple equation which determines the Rashba spin-orbit interaction strength if the number of Weiss oscillations between any two successive nodes is known from the experiment. We compare our results with the electrically modulated 2DEG with the Rashba interaction. For completeness, we also study the beating pattern formation in the collisional and the Hall conductivities.     

Spin Polarization Oscillation and Spin-Polarized Diode Based on Graphene Rashba–Strain Double Junctions

We investigate spin-dependent electron transport through graphene-based Rash ba-strain double junctions. It is found that when electrons are injected from left normal graphene region, high spin polarization oscillation is achieved due to the wave-vector-dependent resonant tunneling. The spin polarization is negligible once the incident direction is reversed. Such a remarkable difference arises from pseudogap caused by the Rashba spin-orbit interaction.     

Influence of in-plane magnetic field on spin polarization in the presence of the oft-neglected k-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The influence of in-plane magnetic field on spin polarization in the presence of the oft-neglected k³-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling was investigated. The k³-Dresselhaus term can produce a limited spin polarization. The in-plane magnetic field plays a great role in the tunneling process. It can generate the perfect spin polarization of the electrons and the ideal transmission coefficient for spin up and down simultaneously. In energy scale, complete separation between spin up and down resonance was obtained by a relatively higher in-plane magnetic field while a comparatively lower in-plane magnetic field vanishes the spin separation. On the other hand, the spin relaxation can be suppressed by compensating the oft-neglected k³-Dresselhaus spin orbit coupling using a relatively lower in-plane magnetic field.     

Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling induced spin-polarization and resonance-split in n-well semiconductor superlattices

Using the transfer matrix method, we investigate the electron transmission over multiple-well semiconductor superlattices with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling in the potential-well regions. The superlattice structure enhances the effect of spin polarization in the transmission spectrum. The minibands of multiple-well superlattices for electrons with different spin can be completely separated at the low incident energy, leading to the 100% spin polarization in a broad energy windows, which may be an effective scheme for realizing spin filtering. Moreover, for the transmission over n-quantum-well, it is observed that the resonance peaks in the minibands split into n-folds or (n−1)-folds depending on the well-width and barrier-thickness, which is different from the case of tunneling through n-barrier structure.